RP Covenant

[illirica]

The little goddess seemed amused. Gail enjoyed her amusement. People who were happy tended to be amenable to all sorts of things. Now, ordinarily one would have expected to have to put someone in a good mood before putting forth the idea that they might be wanting to dissect a living world for the sake of research, but this was the Waking World - or somewhere tangential to it, at least, and they were all quite delighted to go off on tangents.

"I'm sure Joshua would love to have another assistant," she put in, "Cait used to do that with him when she was... hm. A teenager." Before she had grown up, of course - and Gail was fully aware that Joshua was having some challenges with that. But now Ira was a teenager, and if indications were anything, she would be for quite some time.

Where did that put her? She supposed it put her in the same place it always did, courting danger and hoping it liked her enough for a second date, or if it was just going to be a one-night stand as usual.

"I want..." Oh, now, what did she want? There were so many things she could have said. She'd started with what the Foundation wanted, of course, but that wasn't what this discussion was about. That was, for the most part, already settled - it was just a matter of how it was going to work out in the details. But what she wanted... "I want the dead Goddess, is what I want."

Oh, yes, absolutely. That would be delightful. She already had a demon, what was one more passenger? Gail was sure they could find some sort of harmony between them, for some definition of the word. The demon was humming something, because it had its own desires as well, but in this they were in accord.

"We were getting along so well."

 

[Ira]

A silence fell over the two deities as Gail spoke. It was a silence so thick that even the act of breathing would feel loud by comparison. Then, slowly, Ira turned toward HER and spoke. They were not words, rather, they were once more the dancing lights. Lights impossible to see with human eyes, but perceived nonetheless by Cait and, by extension, the others if she chose to share them and their meaning.

It looked like this,

"Ilah, Dea exists yet still part of us."

"I know, Eema."

"We cannot- I mean, should we? It would be, ahm, ahhhhmmm."

The lights blinked and flashed, meaningless, but filled with apprehension. Ira smiled knowingly, like a teenager watching their grandparent figure out a new piece of technology they had never seen before. An idea so foreign and strange, yet not anathema. Perhaps it could be accepted? Ira looked at Gail and nodded, speaking aloud.

"I think- your desires are acceptable."

"Minding stipulations." SHE added, without looking at Gail. Ira nodding and made a pointing motion with her finger, "Yes, stipulations. Simple stipulations, only two. One-" Once more, SHE interrupted, "The Strung Man. I do not abide him. The Dead Goddess not interact with him." Ira nodded, continuing, "Two, force, you shall not, The Dead Goddess to interact with- Foundation persons. Except by Dead Goddess explicit request."

Ira, not questioning how cooperative her elder-third was being, smiled knowingly at Gail. She knew, from memories of the Dead Goddess's fight, that there was so much more to the agent than what met the eye. It would be fascinating to see how she would work with the Dead Goddess, or just torment her. Ira would not oppose Gail simply tormenting her for a while.

"Is that everyone?"

 

[illirica]

Things had settled down a little bit. That was good. It wasn't that Cait didn't revel in chaos, it was just that chaos was supposed to be on the other side. Us against the problem and not the problems with us. Not that there weren't a whole lot of problems with the Locusts - just ask anyone at the Foundation - but it was a group thing. An inclusive problem. Or... something like that. It made sense in her head, anyway. More sense than all that talking circles around each other hoping that someone else would say the thing they wanted so they could aha - gotcha at each other.

This was better, yeah? Oh, there would be a whole bunch of people back at the Foundation who'd be having a fit about this conversation - Cait could name several of them - but that was their problem. So this was fine. Gail and Ira and HER were having it out about the whole Her situation, which was fine. It was two against two, so Cait could stay out of it. It seemed like a pretty reasonable discussion, anyway, if you took out the part where the whole ask was completely bonkers in the first place.

That was the fun part.

"Counter-stipulations: one, She can't act against Foundation persons without my explicit request-" That was unlikely to happen, Cait thought, allowing the thought to be shared - unless someone in the Foundation went rogue, in which case Agent Weber was going to be holding a dead Goddess up her sleeve and then that was going to go very badly for them and that would be funny. She was covering her bases. The glaring loophole was that if She managed to subvert Agent Weber from within...

No, she was leaving that one in there on purpose, wasn't she? Because it'd be funny. They were Locusts, after all.

"And two, She can't refuse to interact with the Locusts. Those are my people and I won't have her putting them in danger because she's having a hissy fit at an inopportune moment."

Cait definitely did not know anyone else prone to having hissy fits at inopportune moments, no way. She refrained from commentary on that aspect, just meeting it with a little giggle. Two stipulations for two stipulations for two aspects for two assets. Very mathematical. Cait stuck out her tongue and raised six fingers, amused. Blah blah blah, security purposes.

Ira wrapped it up with a question, because it was usually better to end on a question than an answer.

"Cait?" Not because he didn't know, just like the Others knew, but because she hadn't said, and words held power.

"Oh... I want everything."

 

[Ira]

A look, a shrug, and a nod passed between the two black haired deities. Sitting next to each other, with their expressions and feelings slowly falling into lockstep, they became more and more similar than not. It was almost like comparing two photographs of the same person side by side. On one end, a photograph of a teenager amid their high school life, on the other, the same person entering the graceful stages of grand-motherhood.

Compared to the violence and discord between the two of them at the start of the day, this was a welcome scene of peace.

Ira looked at Gail and smiled, "Consider- our stipulations run not counter to another. Therefore, wE agree."

Then, finally, Cait spoke.

everything

She wanted everything. SHE rolled her eyes at those words, but Ira's growing, raucous laughter overrode HER feelings within the triumvirate of goddesses. The little she was becoming an intense, bloody pain, and Cait was only feeding into that little madchild. But to a great degree, SHE saw that as a good thing. HER influence alone had formed and raised the Dead Goddess. Perhaps- well- perhaps SHE alone was not the greatest influence.

Someone like Cait. Someone who could be selfless, but also selfish. Sometimes emotional, but often calm. Occasionally sane, but more mad than not. Someone like Cait, someone who was Cait, someone who was something that SHE could never be.

Someone human.

SHE spoke, her voice echoing not its twists and turns of insanity-laden harmonics, but instead with the calm, simple tones of Ira. Yet while SHE attempted to speak, the little girl- the young woman, continued to laugh. That joyous laugh.

"Everything. Agreed."